It’s been one year and a week since a mass shooting took 18 lives in the Lewiston/ Auburn Maine area! This blog post is about positivity & healing! It’s about our amazing community, its determination & resiliency & hope found in places like the Just-in-Time Recreation bowling alley where 8 of the 18 people were killed!! It’s also about moving past our fears and trauma to visit the Just-in-Time bowling alley, I had a nice visit with Justin!! Also as a follow up I will later finish up a post I started a couple years ago about planning your own pasta & bowling night 🙂

Positivity & Healing after  a Tragedy

We all need positivity to help us heal from any tragedy but especially something like this!! I think it’s so important to take the time needed to mourn our loss, the loss of others and take care of ourselves and others!! It’s different for everyone but for most it could even mean overcoming our fears and anxieties 🙂 

It was amazing how the community took immediate action to console a heartbroken Lewiston-Auburn, from comfort dogs, free Counseling, places of refuge and a resiliency center!  Free coffee and hot chocolate from Starbucks at the park and other community events!!! The outpouring of love was so beautiful to see!! The Media was everywhere, i even got to talk to one of them!! The fundraisers were amazing too! I loved how the words Lewiston Strong was everywhere too!! 

Love always wins 

It’s so true, Love always wins!!

Love always wins!!s wins!!

Often we focus on the negative but when we focus on what’s better which is Love,  it always wins 🙂 so in every situation let’s approach it with kindness and love and move forward with good feelings.. its hard to do when we’re in pain, especially with the pain of losing loved ones but step by step, moving forward it will help relieve those painful spots!!  Faith is another big one, Im sure you’ve turned to yours in difficult times!! 

Something I’ve learned is that fear- the expectation of a negative outcome can paralyze you, it can hinder the good that comes your way. It can make you feel isolated and alone because it hinders the decisions we make, so making small steps to combat our mind and thoughts to something more positive is such a help or even as I’m learning from Arlene, Alex and Teresa can feel liberating!! If you’re still struggling reach out to the many resources available in the Lewiston/Auburn area to get help!!  Maine Resiliency Center  walk in hours Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 3-6 pm phone #207-515-3930

Resiliency

The word Resilience means, according to the dictionary is “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness; the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity”. It truly describes our community and especially JustinTime Recreation, employees and volunteers to give of their time and energy despite going thru such a terrible ordeal to reopen their doors for the “community”

In my brief conversation with Justin he told me that the Community is what keep them going and why they keep their doors open! There have been many upgrades & changes, many to enjoy when you visit, it really is a fun atmosphere.. I loved the bright color scheme!

What impressed me the most is immediately upon entering i was greeted, of course I had a camera in my hand that made me stand out! But then the kindness, it was like i became part of the friends there and was even offered pizza!! Thanks so much for the warm welcome Justin and pals, customers!! I cant wait to go back and taste a slice 🙂

People in general can be so resilient, I love how many leagues and people have returned to Just-in-Time!! Here’s

My Beautiful friend Donna!! A sweet surprise to see such a kind soul enjoying her day with her bowling league!! She absolutely loves bowling 🙂 So let each and every one of us be resilient, hopeful and most importantly kind to one another and supportive!! 

JustinTime Recreation

Justin & Mechanic!! Thanks for such nice smiles 🙂

Thank you Justin and Samantha for giving us the opportunity to visit your establishment and showing us what courage and resiliency looks like!! Just-in-Time bowling alley is courageously showing love for the community by re opening its doors & keeping them open!! On May 3rd, the community gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony just 6 months after the tragedy! 

On that reopening day Governor Mills words were recorded on the Maine.gov website & gives great praise to both Justin and Samantha for the reopening, & her words were so inspiring!  She says, “I know that reopening may not have been an easy decision to make”. she thanked them for “giving the community a place to make more good memories” and she brought out, “We are still a civil, safe, and welcoming state with a backbone as strong as Katahdin.” If you’ve ever been to Katahdin it is a tough but beautiful hike, and literally looks like a strong backbone from afar indeed!! Such inspiring words!! Then she says, “We are who we always have been- a people with a deep and abiding sense of right and wrong, determined to look out for one another, knowing how very lucky we are to live in this beautiful state”.  

So as we heal together let us also embrace those small wins and look forward with faith to a better time 🙂 & enjoy the beauty Maine has to offer 🙂

Justin & Samantha 

Special thanks to Justin and Samantha for helping with this post 🙂 & the mechanic who graciously posed for me!! Come in and enjoy bowling and the amazing pizza! The schedule changes from season to season, with more hours in the winter and shorter hours in the summer! For more info check out their website; www.justintimebowl.com!!  Ive recommend they add salsa/batchata from time to time, we will see if they could add a song or two sometimes!! lol! 

Thanks for reading 🙂 and following along!!

Another post you may enjoy.. dog sledding @ultimate dog sledding of Maine 🙂

Winter Activities

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